Extended slotting mechanism



May 1, 1962 H. B. GREENWOOD ETAL 3,031,937

EXTENDED SLOTTING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1959 -LINVENTORS HenryB. Greenwood Joseph 0. Dan/r0, Jr.

y 1962 H. B. GREENWOOD ETAL 3,031,937

EXTENDED SLOTTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 14. 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS Henry 5. Greenwood Joseph 0. Dan/r0, J/f

Maw/U 31M ATTORNEY May 1, 1962 H. B. GREENWOOD ETAL 3,031,937

EXTENDED SLOTTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. l4. 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Pas/712m Position INVENTORS Henry B. Greenwoaa Joseph 0 Dan/r0, Jr

ATTORNEY May 1, 1962 H. B. GREENWOOD ETAL 3,031,937

EXTENDED SLOTTING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 1 4, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 I PME :g

T m g, L" ig I! I i? t J aoi M j :l I 5 i WLJIL LWQ M g5 k E INVENTORSHenry 5 Greenwood Joseph 0. Dan/r0, Jr.

ATTORNEY May 1, 1962 H. B. GREENWOOD ETAL 3,031,937

EXTENDED SLOTTING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 14, 1959 bEQRRGQ vm 8% 5% P363 ERR h mwmmk .511 h REE QEKQGSQGMQ Qm 1 E M h H H NNN b QQRGQQ BR 3% BR 5% BE 5% wmwumxb x t u vmmumxb IECRM m mmumx x t u 0Qt S k S m w mm m WWO, a w A Z 6 0/ w MS H@ M B 3,031,937 EXTENDEDSLUTTING MECHANISM Henry B. Greenwood and Joseph 0. Danko, Jr.,Baltimore, Md., assignors, by me'sne assignments, to Samuel M. LangstonCompany, Camden, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 14, 1959,Ser. No. 846,278 Claims. (Cl. 93-58.2)

This invention relates generally to the manufacturing of paper products,and, more particularly, it pertains to sheet handling and cuttingmachines for making carton blanks.

Machines for printing, fold creasing, and cover flap slotting must beadjustable to accommodate the great many sizes of cartons which are tobe blanked.

It is a primary object of this invention, therefore, to provide anarrangement for increasing the maximum sheet size handling capability ofa carton blanking machine without increasing the overall dimensionsthereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a supplemental cartonslotting knife disc mechanism for increasing the distance between cutsin a rotary slotter.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a simpleshaft-displacing and gear-shifting arrangement for accommodatingoversize slotting knife discs in cartonmaking rotary slotter machines.

To provide a feeding arrangement for an oversize carton blank slotter isanother object of this invention.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomemore readily apparent and understood from the following detailedspecification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a printer-slotter machine incorporatingfeatures of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the gear train for the printer-slotter ofFIG. 1 showing its relationship to the slotter and creaser membersthereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the gear train in a horizonal plane, withthe view being taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial showing of the gear train as seen inboard of theframe, a chain line indicating the shifting of the slotter gear frompoint C to point C about point D;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a two lobe feeder mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the two lobe feeder mechanism of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a carton blank as it would appear beforeentering the printer-slotter machine;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a carton blank after passing through theprinter-slotter machine; and

FIG. 9 is a pair of operation cycle diagrams as provided in the twopositions of the shift, together with a series of operation cycles ofthe reciprocating feed.

Referring first to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawings, as the paper board isejected from a corrugating machine, cut to a sized blank 38 suitable fora corrugated carton, it is provided with transverse flap-forming creasesX, as shown in FIG. 7. To produce a final carton blank 40 illustrated inFIG. 8, additional vertical folding creases Y, as well as slots Z and Zmust also be added. Printing on the paper carton is usually appliedduring this operation of forming the slots Z and Z and creases Y.

The creases Y, the slots Z and Z and the printing are done on aprinter-slotter machine as illustrated in FIG. 1. The printer-slottermachine 20 consists of three (3) basic sections, namely, a feedersection 22. a printer section 24, and a creaser-slotter section 26.These three sections, 22, 24, and 26, are gear driven, one to another,and receive motive power from a common belted motor 28 so as to operatein synchronism.

3,031,937 Patented May 1, 1962 ice The height of the carton lies in thedirection of the feed flow of the blanks 38. This requires the slottingfor the pairs of slots Z and Z at the top and bottom of the carton blank38 to be done successively and is performed respectively by pairs ofrotating blades 30 and 32 shown in FIG. 2. Each pair of blades 30 and 32is adjustably mounted upon the periphery of a plurality of spaced knifedisc assemblies 34. Without the skip feed mechanism, the longest cartonblank which can be accommodated in the machine is the circumference ofthe head at the diameter at which the blades 30 and 32 cut the paperstock 38.

This invention is concerned with increasing this accommodation of thesize of the carton blank without unduly expanding the size of theprinter-slotter machine 26.

In FIG. 2, a carton blank 40 is shown having passed through theprinter-slotter machine 20 in the direction of the carton blank feedarrows. In doing so, the carton blank 40 passes between male and femalecreaser rollers 42 and 44, respectively, to form the folding creases Y.The rollers 42 and 44 are rotated by shafts on centers A and G of a geartrain 36 represented by a series of shaft centers A, B, C, E, and Gshown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, while F is a shaft center for the idler gearalso shown in the FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

A slotter backing roller 46 rotated on shaft center E is driven at thesame peripheral speed through an idler gear on shaft F from the shaft oncenter G.

Each knife disc assembly 34 consists of a small diameter disc 48 mountedon a shaft 52, and an auxiliary larger diameter annular disc 50 whichmay be bolted on, as shown best in FIG. 3. The rotating blades 30 and 32for each knife disc assembly 34 can adjustably be mounted on either thedisc 48 (with disc 50 removed) or on the disc 50 when it is used. Thelatter disc 50 is provided as an accessory for the purpose of increasingthe maximum blade separation for longer carton slotting as has beenrelated.

To accommodate each larger disc 50 and still permit its blades 30 and 32to engage with its respective backing roller 46, the shaft 52 must beraised from a lower position to an upper position as designated in FIG.3 wherein the shaft 52 moves from C to C as further shown by the doubleheaded arrow in FIG. 2.

A gear 54 positioned on the shaft 52 then transfers its engagement witha gear 56 to a spur gear 58. This spur gear 58 rotates on a shaft centerB and it is secured to an idler gear 60 which drives the gear train 36from a power gear 62, as shown best in FIG. 2.

The gear shifting mechanism is shown in FIG. 3 and in diagram form inFIG. 4. This mechanism consists of eccentrically mounted journal 64whose center of rotation is D, and which mounts, off-center, the shaft52 in a bearing 66. A wrench shaft 68 having a pinion 72 is provided forrotating the eccentric journal 64 by means of a toothed flange 70shifting the lower position of shaft 52 to the upper position as thebearing 66 is 05- cillated. This change in shaft center from C to Cunmeshes the knife disc assembly drive gear 54 from the gear 56 andmoves it to mesh with the spur gear 58. The drive ratio between the twopositions is made one and one-half to one by suitable choice of gearratios in the train 36.

The blades 3t) and 32 when mounted on the smaller diameter disc 48 orchanged to mount on the larger annular disc 50, thus travel at the sameperipheral speed.

For another reason which will now be related, the diameters of the discs48 and 50 are related in the ratio of one and one-half to one (1 /24).

The feeder-printer section 22 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided with acarton blank feeder 74 which pushes the lowermost of a stack of cartonblanks 38 into engagement by the printer-slotter machine 20. The longersized blanks 38 accommodated by the gear shift and use of the largerdiameter annular disc 50 as has been described above would interferewith each other if they were fed by an unmodified feeder 74. Because thelong carton blanks 38 take longer to traverse the machine 20 and sincethe feeder stroking rate is tied to the gear train which drives thecreaser rollers, use is now made of a skip feed mechanism 76.

This skip feed mechanism 76 is the subject of U.S. Patent No. 2,705,143entitled, Skip-Feed Mechanism, issued March 29, 1955, to Henry B.Greenwood, and is generally illustrated in FIGS. and 6. In timedrelation to the movement of the operating parts of the printerslottermachine 20, the feed mechanism 76 reciprocates to feed the lowermost ofa stack of sized blanks 38, not shown.

At each stroke of the feed mechanism 76, a toothed ratchet wheel 78rotates one tooth. This ratchet wheel 78 rotates a shaft 80 which mountsa lobed cam 82. The lobed cam 82. is arranged to lift a reciprocatingfeed member 84 into engaging contact with the bottom sized blank 38. Byproportioning the number of lobes of the lobed cam '82 with the numberof teeth of the ratchet wheel 78, any ratio of reciprocating strokes toblank feed may be had.

In the present example, a six-toothed ratchet wheel 78 is used with atwo-lobed cam 82. The result is a feed oneskip two schedule.

A series of operation cycles of the reciprocating feed mechanism 76 isindicated by the line 90 of the middle cycle diagram of FIG. 9. The toand fro movement on thrust-retract motion of the reciprocating feedmechanism 76 is indicated by directional arrows. The thrust arrows areidentified by Roman numerals. For the skip feed mechanism 76 disclosedin the referenced patent, the longest carton blank 38 which can beaccommodated by the printer-slotter machine 20 is indicated by thedistance between slot pairs as depicted on line 92, and corresponds tothe use of the lower gear shift or shaft center C and the omission ofthe larger diameter annular disc 50 shown in FIG. 2. Evenly numberedthrusts II, IV, etc. are skipped by the use of a ratchet tooth to camlobe ratio of two-to-one in the feeder 74.

When this cam lobe ratio is changed to three-to-one, the thrusts will beon a feed oneskip two cycle and the larger diameter annular disc 50 maybe employed with corresponding upper gear shift or shaft center C. Theimprovement in blank length handling is apparent from line 94 of FIG. 9by the greater distance between slot pairs.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachmgs. scope of the appendedclaims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallydescribed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printer slotter machine, an adjustable and extendable slottingmechanism consisting of a pair of rotatable shafts mounted in a firstrelative parallel position, a plurality of spaced discs mounted on oneshaft of said pair of shafts, spaced blades mounted on the periphery ofeach said disc, 2. corresponding number of slotter backing rollersmounted on the other shaft of said pair of shafts and spaced tocorrespond to said discs, each slotter backing roller being arranged toreceive the blades of its respective disc, means having different speeddrive increments for driving one shaft of said pair of shafts, means forcoupling said pair of shafts together in said first relative parallelposition of said pair of shafts for simultaneous rotation at one speedratio therebetween, means for positioning said pair of shafts to asecond relative parallel position, means for radially repositioning saidblades on each said disc, said means for posi- -It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the tioning said pair of shafts to said secondrelative parallel position being arranged to decouple said couplingmeans and to recouple said coupling means to said driving means so as toprovide a different speed ratio of said pair of shafts relativetherebetween in said second relative parallel position of said pair ofshafts to correspond to a changed peripheral speed of said radiallyrepositioned blades, a skip-feeding mechanism for feeding blanks to saidadjustable and eXtendable slotting mechanism, and means coupled to saiddriving means for synchronizing said skip-feeding mechanism with theperipheral speed of said radially repositioned blades.

2. In the printer slotter machine as recited in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for positioning said pair of shafts to a second relative parallelposition includes a rotatable eccentric journal, and an element forrotating said rotatable eccentric journal.

3. In the printer slotter machine as recited in claim 1, wherein themeans for radially repositioning said blades on each said disc consistsof a concentrically arranged disc secured to its respective firstmentioned disc.

4. In the printer slotter machine as recited in claim 3, and means forperipherally positioning said blades on said radially repositioningmeans.

5. In the printer slotter machine as recited in claim 1, andadditionally a second pair of rotatable shafts spaced parallel to saidfirst mentioned pair of rotatable shafts, said second pair of rotatableshafts having mutually engageable creaser rollers thereon for creasingsaid carton blank along predetermined lines.

6. In the printer slotter making machine as recited in claim 5, whereinsaid creaser rollers are spaced to correspond to said spaced discs ofsaid one shaft of the first pair of shafts.

7. in the printer slotter machine as recited in claim 1, and means forchanging the skip movement of said skipfeeding mechanism.

8. In combination, an adjustable and extendable slotting mechanismconsisting of a pair of rotatable shafts mounted in a first relativeparallel position, a plurality of spaced discs mounted on one shaft ofsaid pair of shafts, spaced blades mounted on the periphery of each saiddisc, a corresponding number of slotter backing rollers mounted on theother shaft of said pair of shafts and spaced to correspond to saiddiscs, each slotter backing roller being arranged to receive the bladesof its respective disc, means having different speed drive incrementsfor driving one shaft of said pair of shafts, means for coupling saidpair of shafts together in said first relative parallel position of saidpair of shafts for simultaneous rotation at one speed ratiotherebetween, and means for positioning said pair of shafts to a secondrelative parallel position, said means for radially repositioning saidpair of shafts of said second relative parallel position being arrangedto decouple said coupling means and to recouple said coupling means tosaid driving means so as to provide a different speed ratio of said pairof shafts relative therebetween in said second relative parallelposition of said pair of shafts to correspond to the changed peripheralspeed of said radially repositioned blades.

9. In the combination as recited in claim 8, and additionally askip-feeding mechanism for feeding blanks to said adjustable andextendable slotting mechanism, and means coupled to said driving meansfor synchronizing said skip-feeding mechanism with the peripheral speedof said radially repositioned blades.

10. In the combination as recited in claim 9, wherein said means forpositioning said pair of shafts to a second relative parallel positionincludes a rotatable eccentric journal, and an element for rotating saidrotatable eccentric journal.

11. In the combination as recited in claim 9, wherein the means forradially repositioning said blades on each said disc consists of aconcentrically arranged disc secured to its respective first mentioneddisc.

12. In the combination as recited in claim 9, and additionally a secondpair of rotatable shafts spaced parallel to said first mentioned pair ofrotatable shafts, said second pair of rotatable shafts having mutuallyengageable creaser rollers thereon for creasing said blank alongpredetermined lines.

13. In the combination as recited in claim 12, wherein said creaserrollers are spaced to correspond to said spaced discs of said one shaftof the first pair of shafts.

14. In the combination as recited in claim 9, and means for changing theskip movement of said skipfeeding mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS SwiftJuly 15, 1924 Sieg May 10, 1938 Greenwood Mar. 29, 1955 Teplitz Sept. 2,1958

